MLB Trivia: Touching base

In a baseball game, if a player hits a home run and a double, he has six total bases (four for the homer and two for the double). Hank Aaron holds the MLB record for most total bases in a career with 6,856. Can you name the three active players entering the 2011 season with the most career total bases?

MLB Trivia: No Easy Out Feat

Pete Rose is the MLB's all-time hit king with 4,256 hits. But he's also the MLB's all-time out king, ranking #1 with 10,328 outs. Can you name the player who has made the second most outs in MLB history? (Hint: Like Rose, this player is known for all-time greatness and longevity. And no, the answer is not Ty Cobb.)

MLB Trivia: The Newest Mr. 3,000

As long as Derek Jeter doesn't get too distracted by his Tampa Bay mansion, this season he should be able to reach the major milestone of 3,000 career hits. Paul Molitor is the only player in MLB history to get a triple for his 3,000th hit; and Roberto Clemente is the only player to have his 3,000th hit happen in his career's final at-bat. Can you name the most recent player to reach 3,000 hits? (Hint: He got there in 2007.)

MLB Trivia: The Real Dominican Daddy

Lots of great MLB players have come from the Dominican Republic, and they always field a competitive team at the World Baseball Classic. But can you name the Dominican-born MLB player with the most all-time hits?

MLB Trivia: Do You Know Football and Baseball?

With the Super Bowl now over, the sports world can turn more of its attention to the upcoming baseball season. Although, it should be noted that parts of the football season and baseball season overlap. In fact, one person has even scored an NFL touchdown and hit an MLB home run in the same week. Can you name him?

MLB Trivia: No Sophomore Jinx

In 2008, Tim Lincecum won the Cy Young Award as a second-year player. Can you name the two most recent players to win the Cy Young as second-year players previous to Lincecum?

MLB Trivia: Kid Can Play

In 2010, Starlin Castro had great stats for a 20-year-old: .300 batting average, .347 on-base percentage, and a .408 slugging percentage. In fact, only two 20-year-olds in the past 50 years have matched or beat all of those numbers. Can you name them? (Hint: You don't have to go back 50 years to find these answers. Not even close.) 

Playing for Keeps: What Would You Do?

Earlier this week I received an email from a reader named Travis. He's looking for some advice on his fantasy baseball team for this upcoming season. Here's a shortened version of his question:

I am playing in a 10 team, 5x5, 6 player keeper league. I picked up a team half way through the season last year since my buddy is in the league and one of the players wasn't managing his [team]. I finished in second to last place, which was really a miracle considering how far back I was, and traded a number of hot players (Corey Hart, etc.) for draft picks this year. I currently have Miguel Cabrera, Tim Lincecum, Jayson Werth, Andre Ethier, Zobrist and Rickie Weeks as my keepers and have picked up an additional 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 16 draft picks. I traded away my 18-24 draft picks to pick up those as well as the type of players I just mentioned, 

Basically, I have two choices next year, I can keep the guys I have and go into the draft with a clear advantage over everyone else (most of the guys are still picking up the idea of trading picks and don't have many extra ones to use) and try to compete this year based on my draft and good waiver wire play. Or I could trade for some studs and give up many of my early round picks. 

Any thoughts on what I should do are appreciated. 

-Travis

Thanks for your email, Travis. With Miguel Cabrera and Tim Lincecum, you have two top players that any manager would want. If I were you, I'd hang onto them.

As for how to handle your extra draft picks, in general, I would value proven major league talent over unproven prospects. That might seem obvious, but lots of managers constantly trade away proven major league talent for "top prospects." But oftentimes these top prospects, despite hopes of becoming All-Stars, never even become solid major leaguers.

In looking at your team, Rickie Weeks is coming off his best season and his value might never be higher. He's had a long history of injuries and honestly, I wouldn't view him as a building block for a championship team. However, since 2B is a relatively week position, someone in your league might really want Weeks. At the very least it couldn't hurt to ask around. Maybe you can package Weeks with a few draft picks and land an elite top 30 player in return. I'd also look into trading Werth and Zobrist, but I doubt you can get as much in return for them.

So to answer your question, I'd lean toward using some of those extra draft picks as trade throw-ins to try and land proven, elite players in return. It might be a long shot, but that should be Plan A.